The Recombobulation Area is a 19-time 21-TIME! Milwaukee Press Club award-winning opinion column and online publication founded by longtime Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. The Recombobulation Area is now part of Civic Media.
Joel Brennan is one of now six candidates running to be the Democratic nominee for governor. He was the secretary of the Department of Administration for much of Tony Evers’ first term as governor, and before that, was the president and CEO of Discovery World for more than a decade in Milwaukee.
It was around that time that I met Brennan, when I was a reporter at the Milwaukee Business Journal, and wrote a few stories about developments happening at Discovery World, and talked to him for an interview. I find him to be a compelling individual and an intriguing candidate. Far from the flashiest or most well-known, Brennan could prove to be a dark horse in the race, as his record of experience lends itself well to the ability to take on role of governor.
In this conversation, we talked about what he’s learned over the past few months while running for governor (his first time running for elected office since losing a State Senate race in 2003), what he would want to do if elected, how he’d approach working with the state legislature, and much more.
You can watch at the video above, or on our YouTube channel here.
The Recombobulation Area podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
ICYMI:
Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. In 2024, he and the publication joined Civic Media, where he is currently a Contributing Editor. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.
Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @ therecombobulationarea.
Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend.
Part of a group who might want to subscribe together? Get a group subscription for 30% off!
Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer, at BlueSky at @danshafer.bsky.social, and on Threads at @danshafer.
